4/27/14

It just didn't feel like a Friday without Bellator. Fortunately for us MMA fans there were two great fight cards on Saturday. XFCi 4 and UFC 172 may have taken place around the same time Saturday night, but they were both definitely worth turning back and forth from one event to another.

Out of the 9 fights on the XFCi 4 card, 6 of them ended by way of some variety of finish. The main event was not one of those fights. Featherweight Waylon Lowe, a veteran of the UFC, Bellator and WSOF, lost a close split decision to Marcos Rodrigues Dos Santos.

At UFC 172 Middleweight Luke Rockhold made quick work of Tim Boetsch by earning a quick first round kimura that came at just 2:08. The co-main event saw the return of Anthony "Rumble" Johnson to the octagon. The only difference this time around was the fact that he now competes in the Light Heavyweight division. He dominated Phil Davis for three straight rounds showing great cardio and take down defense on his way to a unanimous decision. In the main event Light Heavyweight champion and pound for pound number one fighter in the world Jon Jones took care of Glover Teixeira. Jones kept the fight standing and picked Glover apart with different unorthodox combinations leading to an easy unanimous decision win.

MFC Bantamweight champion Anthony Birchak has been pulled from his MFC 40 title defense due to injury. His former opponent Kevin Croom will now take on Jesse Brock in a number one contender fight.

Titan Fighting Championship continues to sign talented fighters with its signing of Welterweight Ben Saunders (former UFC and Bellator fighter).

UFC and WSOF Welterweight veteran Gerald Harris has announced his retirement.

The UFC has signed Heavyweight veteran Andrei Arlovski. He is rumored to be facing Brendan Schaub in his return to the promotion.

 

4/20/14

The past week of MMA started off earlier than normal with the TUF Nations Finale taking place on Wednesday. Chad Laprise became the seasons Welterweight champion by getting a split decision over Oliver Aubin-Mercier. Elias Theodorou won more impressively by earning a TKO of Sheldon Westcott at 4:41 of round 2 to become the seasons Middleweight champion. The two coaches of TUF Nations faced off next. Welterweight Patrick Cote out worked Kyle Noke to win by unanimous decision. In the main event Middleweight Tim Kennedy got what he wished for and finally shut up Michael Bisping. Kennedy did so by utilizing his wrestling and clinch game to win via unanimous decision. 

At Cage Warriors Fight Night 11 Welterweight and veteran of the promotion, Jack Mason won a unanimous decision over Patrick Vallee. 

Bellator 117 saw a new king of the Welterweight division crowned. Douglas Lima and Rick Hawn fought for the belt which was vacated by Ben Askren. Lima claimed the title by using devastating leg kicks to cripple Hawn leading to a TKO (corner stoppage) at 3:19 of round 2. Also on the card was Marcin Held and Patricky Freire who both advanced to the season 10 Lightweight final by second round finish. 

Lightweight Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone continued his win streak at UFC on FOX 11 by sinking in a guillotine after dropping Edson Barboza with strikes. The finish came at 3:15 of round 1. Women's Bantamweight Miesha Tate finally achieved her first win in the UFC by defeating Liz Carmouche by unanimous decision. In the main event Heavyweight Fabricio Werdum surprisingly dominated Travis Browne on the feet to win a unanimous decision. The win boosted him to a title fight with champion Cain Valasquez. 

Former UFC and Strikeforce Middleweight and Welterweight Jake Shields has signed with WSOF. 

Featherweight champion Pat Curran will defend his belt in a rematch with Patricio Freire at Bellator 121 on June 6. 

4/13/14

It's not every weekend that the UFC is the first promotion to hold an event. Typically, the Ultimate Fighting Championship puts on fights Saturday night, but since the event took place in Abu Dubai we were able to watch on Friday afternoon. In the co-main event Featherweight Clay Guida defeated Tatsuya Kawajiri by unanimous decision in a contest that was deemed "Fight of the Night". The main event saw Heavyweight Roy "Big Country" Nelson knockout veteran Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira with a vicious right hook at 3:37 of round 1.

At Bellator 116 Light Heavyweight Joey Beltran sunk in a north south choke on Vladimir Matyushenko to win at 3:06 of round 3. Former Heavyweight champion Alexander Volkov advanced to the tournament final with a head kick KO of Mighty Mo at just 2:44 of round 1. Volkov will take on fellow Heavyweight Blagoi Ivanov in the final. Ivanov won by americana at 4:08 of round 1 over Lavar Johnson.

The vacant Flyweight title was on the line at RFA 14. Matt Manzanares claimed that belt by taking a split decision over Junior Maranhao. It seemed like it was a pretty clear decision in favor of Manzanares but for whatever reason the judges thought otherwise. Either way the rightful victor took home the title.

Bantamweight champion Brett Johns looked to defend his belt at Cage Warriors 67 but that did and didn't happen. Confused? I bet. Johns missed weight and was stripped of the belt so technically it was never on the line. He did however win a one sided unanimous decision over James Brum.

One time UFC Welterweight title contender Jake Shields has been released from the promotion.

Eduardo Dantas will defend his Bantamweight title against former champion Joe Warren at Bellator 118.

Lightweight Melvin Guillard has signed with the WSOF.

Demetrious "Mighty Mouse" Johnson will defend his Flyweight belt against Ali Bagautinov in the main event of UFC 174. It will be Johnson's first time headlining a pay per view.

Bellator Middleweight champion Alexander Shlemenko will take on Tito Ortiz in a Light Heavyweight bout. The fight will take place at Bellator's first ever pay per view event on May 17.

Leonard Garcia will defend his Featherweight belt for the first time against Damon Jackson at Legacy FC 33.

UFC Women's Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey will defend her title at UFC 175. The co-main event fight will be against Alexis Davis.

4/6/14

Bellator 115 opened the weekend with an injury filled fight card that saw two key fights not even take place. The result was a last second, thrown together main card that was rather lackluster. In the main event Vitaly Minakov defended his Heavyweight belt for the first time against Cheick Kongo. Kongo, who is infamous for throwing illegal blows, was actually on the receiving end of two groin shots which led to a one point penalty early in the fight. Despite the penalty, Minakov was still able to win via unanimous decision by combining wrestling and a nice clench based attack.

At Legacy FC 30 Holly Holm claimed the Women's Bantamweight title by completely dominating Juliana Werner. Holm won by landing a head kick that led to a ground and pound TKO at 1:50 of round 5. It is still uncertain whether or not Holm's next fight will be in the UFC.

The Titan FC 28 main event has been announced and it originally featured two former UFC fighters. Light Heavyweight Vinny Magalhaes was suppose to fight Jason Brilz but days after the announcement Magalhaes had to pull out of the fight. Brilz will now take on Raphael Davis.

UFC Light Heavyweights Daniel Cormier and Dan Henderson have verbally agreed to fight one another. The winner will get a title shot but only after Alexander Gustafsson gets his first.